Airfare Deals
The days of calling up an airline for some great airfare deals are over … as if you ever really got them straight from the source anyway! Airline deals are getting tougher to land given the sky rocketing price of jet fuel, but there are plenty of ways to still come out ahead. Here are some options for finding airfare deals you can be happy about:

1. The best deal on airfare is online. Many times flight deals can be had right on the airline carrier’s website. Some of them will even give a discount if you ask for it.

2. Comparison shop for the best air fare deals on auction websites and even aggregator or travel agency websites. Once you have your air fare deals narrowed down to a select few, hop on the carrier website whether it is Quantas Airlines or Southwest and see if you can find the same flight information. Chances are you will and if you book through the carrier website, you will bypass those surcharge fees that the Travelocity and others charge.

3. Flexibility is important if you are looking for some flight deals. Can you leave in the middle of a week or stay through a weekend? Sometimes, the difference can be hundreds of dollars when shopping for those airfare deals.

4. Still going to school? If so, you just may qualify for student airfare deals. Everyone knows that students are poor and carriers try and help them out by offering cheap tickets and other ticket discounts.

5. Go regional. By choosing a smaller airline rather than one of the major ones, you could find some cheap airline deals. Just because they are smaller does not mean that they skim on safety. They have to follow all the safety rules of the FAA too.

6. If you are a spontaneous traveler, sign up for email newsletters and alerts from the airlines. You could find some great last minute flight deals whenever you get that urge to get away. And sometimes, subscribers get what is known as “secret airfare deals” that are never advertised to the general public.

7. Flying in the off-hours like 5:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m. could mean big savings and garner you cheap air fares.